Hell’s Half Acre

The hills and mountains are green. Green in the desert is a strange color. Yellow wildflowers blanket the hills where long grass has grown. Calves and baby sheep graze along the highway, guarded by young shepherders as school ended weeks ago. Mexican families load up vans and autos and even taxis and are on the road, vacationing. Puddles of rain are everywhere, and while they are wonderful for the farmers who are planting, they are deathtraps for drivers. I’ve seen a number of cargo trucks and dump trucks stuck in mud half way up their wheels.

It is hard to belive we were able to extricate ourselves from Querétaro. I had wanted to get up
at 8am, but had a very bad night of sleep. We got up at 9 and after a solid breakfast (no rushed breakfasts while we’re all on antibiotics) we managed to squeak out in the morning; just 15 minutes short of afternoon. Luckilly, I’d planned only a 175km, 2.5hr drive to San Luis Potosí. It is taking us a bit to get used to the traveling life again; the short drive today was quite long enough for us. The road from Querétaro to San Luis Potosí was amazing. Two lanes in each direction and something you simply Do Not Find in Mexico; SHOULDERS!!! About 40km
outside SLP we saw a local cycling club (we think) taking advantage of the wonderful shoulders and I pulled over when possible (so’s not to take up their wonderful shoulder) and made everyone get out of the car and cheer them on. I think our cheers were quite appreciated. As we passed them again; quite strung out - Jamie clapped out the passenger window. It was a very easy day of driving; short and wonderful road. We found the bypass for SLP very easily and other than driving off the edge of a mammoth pothole on a SLP lateral (covered by water) it went without incident.

We have really become accustomed to the spring green of the Guanajuato area; driving into the state of SLP, the desert re-asserted itself and the cactus was everywhere. In fact, the cactus seems to be planted, a specific cactus that gives “tuna”, a fruit we ate in Santa Rosa J. We’re parked in the parking area of a hotel which is surrounded by tuna plants (cacti). We also drove through areas of roadside stands selling fresas con crema. For some reason, I didn’t think pesticide ridden strawberries covered with cream which had been sitting in the hot sun all day a tasty treat. Many were taking advantage of the fresas as we passed lots of tourists (this is high vacation time for Mexican families) stopped at the stands.

I had hoped we could take in the sights of San Luis Potosí this afternoon, but the kids are having so much fun running around the campo this afternoon, we just didn’t have the heart to drag them into town. We’ll have to visit SLP when we return. I also wanted to head to Zacatecas tomorrow, but I know we’d want to spend a week there, so Jamie suggested we head straight to Saltillo and the border. So, tomorrow we’ll be just outside Monterrey (Saltillo) and the next day the border.

I’m not looking very forward to the border crossing; between the 7581 kilos of ceramica we
purchased and the fact that both our vehicle permit and tourist cards have expired, it should be interesting. I actually purchased two vehicle permits (those who’ve been keeping track will remember the fracaso in La Paz). The first didn’t list the trailer, so when we took the ferry to the mainland, I had to purchase a second one. They only put 129 days on the second permit when I should have had 180 days. Who knows why, but I never checked. It is so mornal to always get 180 days that I never checked. When we cross the border, the Aduana will have to cancel the vehicle permit but the tourist cards serve no use at the border. Well, we’ll see.